Dust / Smoke

Honesty note: CAMS separates dust (desert surface class) from smoke/haze aloft (high AOD, low dust) reliably. Which desert or whose fire is seasonal inference only — Saharan-typical May–Sep on the coast; West Texas dust when only Lubbock/Midland/Abilene are dusty; Mexico ag-fire smoke typical Apr–Jun; Canadian wildfire smoke typical Jul–Sep. We never claim more than that.

« »
Today + 5-day forecast (Weighted ERCOT)
TODAY ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-20 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.18 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-21 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-22 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-23 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.24 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-24 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.25 · dust 0
int 1/3
Worst dust city today
Lubbock
Dust 1 µg/m³ · AOD 0.17 · Clear
2026-09-19 (forecast)
Worst US AQI city today
Houston
US AQI 99 · dust 0
2026-09-19 (forecast)
2026-03 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
03-01 Clear 0.18 1 13 Lubbock (5) actual
03-02 Clear 0.15 0 10 Midland (2) actual
03-03 Hazy 0.20 1 10 Lubbock (9) actual
03-04 Smoke / haze aloft 0.36 1 15 Lubbock (4) actual
03-05 Smoke / haze aloft 0.34 0 11 Midland (2) actual
03-06 Smoke / haze aloft 0.39 3 13 Midland (39) actual
03-07 Smoke / haze aloft 0.59 2 11 Midland (16) actual
03-08 Smoke / haze aloft 0.48 1 11 Lubbock (4) actual
03-09 Smoke / haze aloft 0.51 1 13 Lubbock (5) actual
03-10 Smoke / haze aloft 0.48 3 11 Midland (43) actual
03-11 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.39 12 11 Midland (33) actual
03-12 Clear 0.13 3 14 Lubbock (10) actual
03-13 Clear 0.07 2 14 Lubbock (16) actual
03-14 Clear 0.11 3 8 Midland (34) actual
03-15 Hazy 0.20 5 10 Midland (35) actual
03-16 Hazy 0.20 1 10 Wichita Falls (4) actual
03-17 Clear 0.15 2 12 Lubbock (5) actual
03-18 Clear 0.11 3 8 Lubbock (9) actual
03-19 Clear 0.11 2 9 Lubbock (6) actual
03-20 Clear 0.09 1 7 Lubbock (4) actual
03-21 Clear 0.08 1 6 Lubbock (3) actual
03-22 Clear 0.08 1 6 Lubbock (7) actual
03-23 Clear 0.16 0 13 Lubbock (3) actual
03-24 Hazy 0.20 1 14 Lubbock (6) actual
03-25 Clear 0.17 1 9 Lubbock (5) actual
03-26 Clear 0.12 1 7 Midland (3) actual
03-27 Hazy 0.25 1 12 Lubbock (10) actual
03-28 Smoke / haze aloft 0.32 3 19 DFW (7) actual
03-29 Hazy 0.24 2 19 DFW (5) actual
03-30 Clear 0.19 1 10 Lubbock (7) actual
03-31 Hazy 0.22 2 9 Midland (11) actual
All-time top dust days
Date City Dust AOD Class
2024-07-13 Brownsville 118 0.41 Saharan dust
2024-03-24 Midland 110 0.23 Desert dust
2026-09-15 Corpus Christi 110 0.31 Saharan dust
2024-07-13 McAllen 105 0.48 Saharan dust
2026-09-15 Brownsville 96 0.35 Saharan dust
2024-02-03 Midland 95 0.20 Desert dust
2024-07-30 Corpus Christi 95 0.40 Saharan dust
2024-07-31 Corpus Christi 94 0.40 Saharan dust
2026-06-29 Tyler 93 0.32 Saharan dust
2024-07-01 Corpus Christi 92 0.33 Saharan dust
All-time top smoke days (dust < 10)
Date City AOD Dust Class
2024-06-02 Tyler 1.86 3 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-16 Houston 1.70 2 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-28 DFW 1.45 3 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-02 Tyler 1.39 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-22 Tyler 1.32 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2025-04-19 DFW 1.23 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2025-04-19 Wichita Falls 1.23 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-29 Abilene 1.22 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-13 Houston 1.21 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-30 Abilene 1.21 2 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)

Plan 3 Part D2 · Classifier heuristics in config (AIR_DUST_UG_MIN etc.) · Data from CityAir / DailyAir (CAMS via Open-Meteo).